Weekly Address: Financial Reform to Protect Consumers

The President explains his plan to address one of the major causes of the current economic crisis -- the breakdown of oversight leading to widespread abuses in the financial world. The new Consumer Financial Protection Agency will have the sole job of looking out for the financial interests of ordinary Americans by banning unfair practices and enforcing the rules. This is a cornerstone in Americas new economic foundation.

Commentary: Contrary to the Right-Wing Zealots’ Cries, Black People Did Not Create This Financial Crisis

By: Tonyaa Weathersbee

The lies and code just keep getting thicker.

By now, anyone witnessing the kneecapping of Wall Street through its own rampant greed ought to know how things came to this. Too many sub-prime mortgages were issued to people who couldn’t afford them. Too much speculation and too little regulation led those risky loans to be packaged into securities so that when the housing bubble burst, the nation’s economic safety net was shredded.

Now we’re told that only a government bailout will save us from another Great Depression. That could be a very real possibility or a threat aimed at forcing lawmakers to act.

No one really knows.

What I do know is that contrary to the rants of neo-conservative wingnuts like Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin, poor black people didn’t create this crisis.

But when it’s an election year in which a black Democrat may very well wind up in the White House, and when you’re in the business of trying to exploit racial fears rather than expose truths, the facts tend not to matter much.

It’s the code that counts.

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Commentary: In the Wake of Potential Thievery on Wall Street, Should We Be Profiling Rich White Men?

By: Gregory Kane

Maybe this racial profiling stuff isn’t a bad idea. Maybe we should take another look at it.

And let’s get it right this time. Let’s get more races in the racial profiling mix. Or, as the old joke goes, let’s make sure everybody gets a turn in the barrel.

For the past week, we’ve all heard the news about the greatest financial crisis to hit Wall Street in nearly 80 years. The economy is in near meltdown. Congress will have to pass legislation to bail out several industries and businesses faced with ruin. And who’s responsible?

Rich white guys, according to a journalism colleague of mine, who’s a middle-aged, conservative white guy himself. But he’s not rich; in fact, one of his pet peeves is the stuff that rich white guys get away with. He’s the one who wants to expand the racial profiling pool.

“If police see four white guys in suits in an expensive car,” he told me, “the cops should stop that car and arrest ‘em. We can be sure they stole something.”

COMMENTARY....